Turning invasive species into culinary opportunities — through food, education, and a lifetime of pioneering work.
Explore the bookMeet Chef PhilippeBook Author · Consultant · Speaker
Welcome to Can’t Beat’em, Eat’Em!
Thank you for visiting our website and joining us in exploring a new approach to invasive species.
Our mission is to educate and inspire people to discover how many invasive species can become delicious, nutritious sources of natural protein for families and communities. As food costs continue to rise and hunger affects people locally and around the world, we believe it is important to pursue practical, sustainable solutions.
Invasive species can threaten ecosystems, but many also represent an underused source of food. Alongside efforts to control their populations, we can support solutions—including processing facilities—that transform suitable invasive species into convenient, accessible food for the family table.
On this website, you can learn the stories behind these species, explore recipes, and discover how to safely prepare and cook them for your friends and family.
Together, we can turn an ecological challenge into a culinary opportunity and make a difference one bite at a time.
Making a difference one bite at a time!
Chef Philippe developed recipes and promoted alligator meat when the hides were valued but the meat often went unused. His work helped introduce an underutilized native resource to American diners.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enlisted Chef Philippe to promote nutria meat. He and fellow Louisiana chefs showed how this invasive species could become food while encouraging harvest.
Beginning with an encounter on the Atchafalaya River, Chef Philippe developed recipes and processing protocols, trained teams, and brought a carp product to market in 2019. Today, that mission continues with Copi.
Book Author - Consultant - Speaker
Chef Philippe Parola is the founder of the Can't Beat'em, Eat'Em movement and author of the book of the same name. His work brings together culinary creativity, public education, and the development of markets for edible invasive species.
Based in Louisiana, he has focused on turning invasive species—including invasive carp, wild boar, and nutria—into culinary opportunities. His approach connects the kitchen with a larger mission: helping protect native ecosystems by encouraging responsible use of invasive resources.
Chef Philippe’s work with underutilized natural resources began in Louisiana in the early 1980s. His book, Can’t Beat’em, Eat’Em, tells the story of how that work grew into a lasting culinary and ecological mission.
Alligator — bringing an overlooked resource to America’s menus. When businessman Egon Klein asked him to develop recipes using alligator meat, Chef Philippe accepted the challenge. At a time when hides were commercially valuable but meat often went to waste, he created dishes and promoted alligator as a culinary delicacy. His work helped develop appreciation for the meat and demonstrated how cooking could create value from an underused resource. Alligators are native to Louisiana; this chapter of his career concerned resource use and managed wildlife populations.
Nutria — promoting food use to support wetland protection. Building on his alligator work, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enlisted Chef Philippe in the 1990s to promote nutria meat. With processing guidelines developed through cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture, the effort connected culinary promotion with an urgent ecological problem: invasive nutria consuming vegetation and damaging coastal wetlands. Other Louisiana chefs joined him, introducing nutria in preparations such as sausages, stews, and gumbos under the message “Can’t Beat’em, Eat’Em!”
Invasive carp / Copi — pioneering a new food market. In 2009, while preparing for a Food Network filming opportunity on Louisiana’s Atchafalaya River, Chef Philippe encountered invasive carp and recognized their potential as food. He committed nearly a decade to overcoming barriers to commercial use, including their complex bone structure and public reluctance to eat carp. He developed fish-cake recipes and processing protocols, traveled to Vietnam to train processing teams, and brought an invasive carp product to the American market in 2019. Today, his Copi work continues that mission through product development, consulting, and efforts to establish U.S. processing opportunities that connect commercial harvest with food production, jobs, and ecosystem protection.
These milestones establish Chef Philippe as a pioneer in cooking and promoting underutilized natural resources. They are the foundation of his work today as an Ecological Culinary Innovator, book author, and consultant.
Chef Philippe works as a consultant to project owners, operators, and partners. He helps shape products, processing concepts, market positioning, and outreach so that ecological purpose and commercial practicality can work together.
Historical photographs and accounts from Can’t Beat’em, Eat’Em, printed pages 12–18. Alligator is native to Louisiana; nutria and invasive carp are invasive species.
Silver, bighead, grass, and black carp: four invasive carp species with opportunities for food development and responsible commercial harvest.
Versatile minced fish for fish cakes, sliders, patties, and food-service applications. Chef Philippe connects culinary development with processing concepts and market opportunities.
Request product informationCopi is the name used here for invasive carp: silver, bighead, grass, and black carp. Chef Philippe's work focuses on creating value from these fish through food development, processing concepts, and market connections.
Copi Select is a minced-fish product concept designed for versatile preparation. Minced Copi can be developed into fish cakes, sliders, patties, and other convenient dishes.
Chef Philippe's approach focuses on taste, usability, and a clear connection to the ecological purpose behind the product.
Potential partners include colleges and universities, institutional dining programs, distributors, and food-service operators interested in introducing Copi products and telling the story behind their ingredients.
Chef Philippe can help partners explore recipes, menu applications, product positioning, and educational outreach.
A practical processing project needs outlets for more than its primary food product. Chef Philippe helps project teams explore potential uses for suitable byproducts, including pet-food ingredients and other value-added applications, subject to technical feasibility, buyer specifications, and applicable requirements.
Chef Philippe welcomes discussions with project owners, processing operators, harvesters, buyers, and investment partners exploring invasive carp commercialization.
The Mississippi River Basin encompasses nearly 1.5 million miles of waterways. Chef Philippe’s proposed processing network connects harvest in affected waterways with food production, jobs, and opportunities for fishermen.
Tap either illustration to enlarge. The basin shading is not a carp distribution map. Waterway mileage: MICRA’s 2021 Joint Strategic Plan, page 1. Map courtesy of Jeff Janvrin, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, via MICRA.
Transforming invasive fish into food products for human consumption—creating jobs, supporting fishermen, and helping protect our ecosystems.
Chef Philippe Parola’s proposed processing facility brings together receiving, filleting, mincing, forming, freezing, packaging, storage, and byproduct handling.
Proposed Facility Concept · 26,500 square feet · 50,000 pounds of whole fish per day · Up to 12,000 pounds of finished product per day.
Planning targets subject to engineering, equipment selection, and operating validation. Concept illustration, not construction drawings. Catfish status depends on species and harvest location.
The same concept can be adapted for suitable invasive mammals such as wild pigs, with separate facilities, equipment, handling, and inspection arrangements designed for each species.
Chef Philippe serves as a consultant to project owners and operators, connecting product development, processing concepts, market opportunities, and public education.
Discuss a processing projectMaking a difference one bite at a time!
Explore the book’s fish, shellfish, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and plants. Species status varies by location; responsible sourcing begins with local identification and harvest guidance.
Developing appealing food products can create demand for harvest from affected waterways.
Chef Philippe’s Louisiana promotion connected cooking with protection of coastal wetlands.
Discover a different approach to an animal that damages landscapes and native habitats.
Recipes, species stories, and a practical connection between food and ecological action.
Email Chef Philippe to arrange your signed book order and payment. Include the autograph recipient. International and group orders: contact Chef Philippe.
Browse 43 recipes, presented as original book pages to preserve quantities, directions, and contributor credits. Search by dish or ingredient in the recipe title.
No recipes match. Try another name.
Follow the identification, safe handling, preparation, and cooking guidance in the book. Copyright © 2023 Chef Philippe Parola. Original credits remain on the pages.
Three videos carried forward from the existing Can’t Beat’em, Eat’Em website.
Videos require an internet connection. If a player does not load, use its YouTube link.
Chef Philippe brings a culinary and market perspective to projects that turn edible invasive species into useful products.
Chef Philippe serves as a consultant to owners and operators. Scope, deliverables, and compensation are established for each engagement.
Discuss your projectChef Philippe connects the challenge of invasive species with the creativity of the kitchen. His presentations introduce audiences to the Can't Beat'em, Eat'Em movement and explore how food, education, and market development can contribute to ecological action.
Suitable audiences include universities, culinary programs, food-service organizations, environmental groups, industry conferences, and community events.
Presentations, discussions, and culinary demonstrations can be discussed according to the event's goals and facilities.
Book a presentationOur mission is to educate the public about invasive species, demonstrate the culinary potential of suitable edible species, and help develop practical markets that support responsible harvest.
The movement promotes harvesting existing invasive populations where they cause harm. It does not encourage introducing, spreading, or farming invasive species.
Consulting, speaking, Copi products, book orders, partnerships, and media inquiries.
Ecological Culinary Innovator
Book Author · Consultant · Speaker
225 315 5111
chef@chefphilippe.com